Chapter 132 The decisive battle at Highbury
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Chen Ai Ting
Chapter 132 The decisive battle at Highbury
After playing Arsenal at home, Ajax ushered in the No.20 three rounds of the Eredivisie on the weekend.
Ajax away to Utrecht.
Utrecht is just south of Amsterdam, and the distance is very close, but this time, many players who participated in the midweek Champions League match, including Yang Yang and Ibrahimovic, were not included in the squad.
Everyone knows that Ajax is accumulating energy for the Champions League. After all, in the Eredivisie, Ajax has a seven-point lead and has already seized the opportunity to win the championship. It is fully capable of carrying out such a two-line layout.
But to everyone's surprise, the originally expected PSV took the opportunity to narrow the gap between the points and did not happen. Guus Hiddink's team lost 10-[-] to Roda JC at home. In the first half, they conceded two goals in less than [-] minutes. After that, Hesselink came back to save PSV.
One to two, a home defeat, let PSV morale down.
In another game almost at the same time, Ajax lost [-]-[-] away to Utrecht. Vermaelen started this game and performed quite well in the defense, but still failed to prevent the team from losing.
The problem exposed by Ajax is still the offense. Without Ibrahimovic and van der Vaart, the two giants, and Yang Yang, the gold medal substitute, Ajax's offensive weakness is fully exposed.
Although they were defeated, after the end of this round, Ajax still leads No.2 Eindhoven by seven points, No.3 Alkmaar and No.4 Feyenoord by [-] points, and still firmly holds the initiative to win the championship.
…………
…………
A week later, No.20 in the Eredivisie had four rounds.
Ajax away to Wahlwijk.
Ronald Koeman continued to play as a substitute, and Anastasio once again replaced Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the starting lineup, forming a trident with Scola and Mitya, but this pair of attacking combinations still failed to break through Wahlwijk's goal.
In the end, Ajax won the away game 309-[-] with an own goal scored by the opponent in No.[-] minutes.
While the performance in the last round was sluggish, PSV Eindhoven, which has been criticized, ushered in a big explosion in this round.
Hiddink's team scored two goals in the last 2 minutes of the first half from Bouma and Van Bommel, and scored two goals from Park Ji-sung and Kežman in the last 4 minutes of the second half. Finally, they defeated Utrecht [-]-[-] away.
But because Ajax also narrowly won this round, the gap between the two teams is still seven points.
On the contrary, Feyenoord, who drew Heerenveen 3-[-] at home in this round, began to fall behind No.[-] Alkmaar.
Substitutes and rotations have been arranged for two consecutive rounds of the league. Ronald Koeman's mind and Ajax's goal are already clearly revealed.
Defeating Arsenal [-]-[-] at home can only be regarded as a tragic victory, giving Arsenal two away goals, requiring Ajax to try their best to keep the tie at Highbury Stadium, otherwise it will be difficult to advance smoothly from the away game.
After all, it is as difficult as ever to score two away goals at Highbury Stadium.
Therefore, defense has become the most important thing for Ajax to visit Highbury Stadium.
…………
…………
In order to better prepare for the second round of the UEFA Champions League round of [-] knockout rounds, Ajax flew directly from Amsterdam to London after training the day before the match and checked into a hotel before having dinner together.
After a good night's rest, start a simple workout in the hotel's gym the next morning.
In the afternoon, head coach Ronald Koeman gathered everyone in the conference room for a pre-match tactical meeting.
Between these two rounds of knockout rounds, Arsenal also played two games, one was the No.20 Premier League No.4 seven rounds, Arsenal sat at Highbury Stadium and killed Charlton [-]-[-], scoring two goals in the opening [-] minutes, Pires and Henry scored.
Last weekend, Arsenal played against Portsmouth in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Henry, Ljungberg and Kolo Toure scored consecutive goals in the first half, and Henry and Ljungberg scored goals in the second half. In the end, Arsenal defeated Portsmouth [-]-[-] away.
"Looking at these two games, I don't need to say more about Arsenal's strong offensive. Everyone knows it in their hearts, but what I want to remind everyone is to pay attention to the timing of the goal."
Following Ronald Koeman's words, Arsenal's goal time in the two games was prominently displayed on the screen behind.
"There are two very obvious features. First, the first 10 minutes are very critical, especially at Highbury Stadium. Many Premier League teams such as Charlton, Manchester City and Middlesbrough have all fallen within 10 minutes this season. After taking the lead, what Arsenal did the most was to slowly control the game."
"Second point, after Arsenal score a goal, they tend to take advantage of the victory and chase after the victory. They played Charlton in one go, scored two goals in the second and fourth minutes of the opening game, and played Portsmouth. The first goal happened in No. 4 minutes, but after No. 206, No. 40 minutes, and 405 minutes, Arsenal scored consecutive goals."
When Ronald Koeman said this, everyone present was very clear.
This is an extremely terrifying opponent. Their offense is like a shark smelling blood. Once they catch a loophole, they are likely to chase after it until they beat the opponent to pieces.
"So, here, I have to tell everyone that the defense in the first 10 minutes is very, very critical. The Gunners are a team that is very good at resolving the battle in the first 10 minutes. We must be able to defend these 10 minutes. The most important thing is the defense on the two sides and the front of the penalty area."
With that said, Luther Carroll cut to the next PPT, which is Arsenal's starting lineup predicted by the coaching staff.
The goalkeeper is Lehmann, the defense is Ashley Cole, Campbell, Kolo Toure and Lauren, the midfielders are Pires, Edu, Vieira and Ljungberg from left to right, and the double forwards are Henry and Bergkamp.
There are two very obvious differences between the second round and the first round, that is, the veteran Bergkamp has returned to the starting lineup, and Reyes, who performed poorly in the first round, should be a substitute. After all, Bergkamp is more familiar with Ajax.
Another difference is that the left back Ashley Cole has returned from injury. Clichy has performed well during this period, but Ashley Cole is the world's top left back. His comeback will be a considerable improvement for Arsenal's left attack.
Gilberto Silva has also recovered from his injury, but on the one hand, Edu has been in a very good state recently, and on the other hand, out of safety considerations, it is unlikely that Wenger will directly let Brazil's midfielder start.
Of course, it is not ruled out that Wenger took the risk.
"The left side is very terrible. On the one hand, we must have speed players to defend Henry, but at the same time, we also need to pay attention to Pires and Ashley Cole who runs in from the back. The cooperation between Ljungberg and Bergkamp on the right is also very tacit, which is also what we must pay attention to."
"But the most important thing is the front of our penalty area. The first goal conceded in the first round was lost in this area. If Edu starts again, Wenger must still want to make a fuss in this area."
Yang Yang sat down and nodded silently when he heard the head coach's analysis.
In the past period of time, Ajax has been practicing the four-two-three-one style of play. This formation played well in the first round of the game. The protection of the defense line and the front of the penalty area by the double midfielders is also in place. If necessary, they can even return two wide players directly.
If there is no accident, Ajax should still use [-] as the starting formation in the second round.
Unlike the first round, the start of the second round is to seek stability and require defense. Yang Yang's defensive ability is relatively average. Although he can run, the head coach will definitely not waste his physical energy and energy on defense.
In Ajax's lineup, there are many players who are good at defense, but there are very few offensive players on the right.
There will be no big changes in the defense. Trabelsi defended Henry well in the first round, and Maxwell will continue to start. The two full-backs of Ajax are still very strong, and the central defender is still the combination of Heitinga and Escuder.
The team adopts a double defensive midfielder, which must be Garasek and De Jong. In the frontcourt, Ibrahimovic must be the starting center forward. He is also the player in the Ajax team who can most threaten Arsenal's defense.
But Yang Yang couldn't guess the two wingers on the left and right, and the attacking midfielder behind the center forward.
He can only foresee that he will come off the bench again.
Sure enough, after Ronald Koeman introduced the team's game strategy and countermeasures for emergencies during the game, he quickly announced the team's starting lineup.
Basically, it was exactly the same as what Yang Yang guessed, but on the left side, the coaching staff chose Wesley Sonck. The speed of the Belgian striker is quite threatening, especially when counterattacking.
As for the position on the right side, the coaching staff chose Scola. The only thing that surprised Yang Yang was the midfielder position. The coaching staff chose Sneijder.
This also means that the captain of the team, Van der Vaart, will be on the bench just like Yang Yang.
After listening to the starting list announced by the coaching staff, many people turned their heads to look at Van der Vaart, but found that the expression on the latter's face did not show any anger or dissatisfaction.
Did he already know?
Only this explanation is reasonable, otherwise how could he not be angry?
"Finally, I still want to tell everyone here that regardless of the outcome of the game tomorrow night, I am proud of you, and I always believe that you are a group of outstanding players, and each of you is quite outstanding."
"Our team's being able to come to this day and being able to appear in London proves your extraordinaryness, and I sincerely hope that in this final tonight, everyone here can do their best and contribute their own strength to themselves and this team."
"The outside world is looking down on us now, but I believe from the beginning to the end that we can come out of Highbury unscathed."
Ronald Koeman's mobilization and encouragement won warm applause from the locker room.
The fourth update broke out, ask for the first order and monthly pass!
(End of this chapter)
After playing Arsenal at home, Ajax ushered in the No.20 three rounds of the Eredivisie on the weekend.
Ajax away to Utrecht.
Utrecht is just south of Amsterdam, and the distance is very close, but this time, many players who participated in the midweek Champions League match, including Yang Yang and Ibrahimovic, were not included in the squad.
Everyone knows that Ajax is accumulating energy for the Champions League. After all, in the Eredivisie, Ajax has a seven-point lead and has already seized the opportunity to win the championship. It is fully capable of carrying out such a two-line layout.
But to everyone's surprise, the originally expected PSV took the opportunity to narrow the gap between the points and did not happen. Guus Hiddink's team lost 10-[-] to Roda JC at home. In the first half, they conceded two goals in less than [-] minutes. After that, Hesselink came back to save PSV.
One to two, a home defeat, let PSV morale down.
In another game almost at the same time, Ajax lost [-]-[-] away to Utrecht. Vermaelen started this game and performed quite well in the defense, but still failed to prevent the team from losing.
The problem exposed by Ajax is still the offense. Without Ibrahimovic and van der Vaart, the two giants, and Yang Yang, the gold medal substitute, Ajax's offensive weakness is fully exposed.
Although they were defeated, after the end of this round, Ajax still leads No.2 Eindhoven by seven points, No.3 Alkmaar and No.4 Feyenoord by [-] points, and still firmly holds the initiative to win the championship.
…………
…………
A week later, No.20 in the Eredivisie had four rounds.
Ajax away to Wahlwijk.
Ronald Koeman continued to play as a substitute, and Anastasio once again replaced Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the starting lineup, forming a trident with Scola and Mitya, but this pair of attacking combinations still failed to break through Wahlwijk's goal.
In the end, Ajax won the away game 309-[-] with an own goal scored by the opponent in No.[-] minutes.
While the performance in the last round was sluggish, PSV Eindhoven, which has been criticized, ushered in a big explosion in this round.
Hiddink's team scored two goals in the last 2 minutes of the first half from Bouma and Van Bommel, and scored two goals from Park Ji-sung and Kežman in the last 4 minutes of the second half. Finally, they defeated Utrecht [-]-[-] away.
But because Ajax also narrowly won this round, the gap between the two teams is still seven points.
On the contrary, Feyenoord, who drew Heerenveen 3-[-] at home in this round, began to fall behind No.[-] Alkmaar.
Substitutes and rotations have been arranged for two consecutive rounds of the league. Ronald Koeman's mind and Ajax's goal are already clearly revealed.
Defeating Arsenal [-]-[-] at home can only be regarded as a tragic victory, giving Arsenal two away goals, requiring Ajax to try their best to keep the tie at Highbury Stadium, otherwise it will be difficult to advance smoothly from the away game.
After all, it is as difficult as ever to score two away goals at Highbury Stadium.
Therefore, defense has become the most important thing for Ajax to visit Highbury Stadium.
…………
…………
In order to better prepare for the second round of the UEFA Champions League round of [-] knockout rounds, Ajax flew directly from Amsterdam to London after training the day before the match and checked into a hotel before having dinner together.
After a good night's rest, start a simple workout in the hotel's gym the next morning.
In the afternoon, head coach Ronald Koeman gathered everyone in the conference room for a pre-match tactical meeting.
Between these two rounds of knockout rounds, Arsenal also played two games, one was the No.20 Premier League No.4 seven rounds, Arsenal sat at Highbury Stadium and killed Charlton [-]-[-], scoring two goals in the opening [-] minutes, Pires and Henry scored.
Last weekend, Arsenal played against Portsmouth in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Henry, Ljungberg and Kolo Toure scored consecutive goals in the first half, and Henry and Ljungberg scored goals in the second half. In the end, Arsenal defeated Portsmouth [-]-[-] away.
"Looking at these two games, I don't need to say more about Arsenal's strong offensive. Everyone knows it in their hearts, but what I want to remind everyone is to pay attention to the timing of the goal."
Following Ronald Koeman's words, Arsenal's goal time in the two games was prominently displayed on the screen behind.
"There are two very obvious features. First, the first 10 minutes are very critical, especially at Highbury Stadium. Many Premier League teams such as Charlton, Manchester City and Middlesbrough have all fallen within 10 minutes this season. After taking the lead, what Arsenal did the most was to slowly control the game."
"Second point, after Arsenal score a goal, they tend to take advantage of the victory and chase after the victory. They played Charlton in one go, scored two goals in the second and fourth minutes of the opening game, and played Portsmouth. The first goal happened in No. 4 minutes, but after No. 206, No. 40 minutes, and 405 minutes, Arsenal scored consecutive goals."
When Ronald Koeman said this, everyone present was very clear.
This is an extremely terrifying opponent. Their offense is like a shark smelling blood. Once they catch a loophole, they are likely to chase after it until they beat the opponent to pieces.
"So, here, I have to tell everyone that the defense in the first 10 minutes is very, very critical. The Gunners are a team that is very good at resolving the battle in the first 10 minutes. We must be able to defend these 10 minutes. The most important thing is the defense on the two sides and the front of the penalty area."
With that said, Luther Carroll cut to the next PPT, which is Arsenal's starting lineup predicted by the coaching staff.
The goalkeeper is Lehmann, the defense is Ashley Cole, Campbell, Kolo Toure and Lauren, the midfielders are Pires, Edu, Vieira and Ljungberg from left to right, and the double forwards are Henry and Bergkamp.
There are two very obvious differences between the second round and the first round, that is, the veteran Bergkamp has returned to the starting lineup, and Reyes, who performed poorly in the first round, should be a substitute. After all, Bergkamp is more familiar with Ajax.
Another difference is that the left back Ashley Cole has returned from injury. Clichy has performed well during this period, but Ashley Cole is the world's top left back. His comeback will be a considerable improvement for Arsenal's left attack.
Gilberto Silva has also recovered from his injury, but on the one hand, Edu has been in a very good state recently, and on the other hand, out of safety considerations, it is unlikely that Wenger will directly let Brazil's midfielder start.
Of course, it is not ruled out that Wenger took the risk.
"The left side is very terrible. On the one hand, we must have speed players to defend Henry, but at the same time, we also need to pay attention to Pires and Ashley Cole who runs in from the back. The cooperation between Ljungberg and Bergkamp on the right is also very tacit, which is also what we must pay attention to."
"But the most important thing is the front of our penalty area. The first goal conceded in the first round was lost in this area. If Edu starts again, Wenger must still want to make a fuss in this area."
Yang Yang sat down and nodded silently when he heard the head coach's analysis.
In the past period of time, Ajax has been practicing the four-two-three-one style of play. This formation played well in the first round of the game. The protection of the defense line and the front of the penalty area by the double midfielders is also in place. If necessary, they can even return two wide players directly.
If there is no accident, Ajax should still use [-] as the starting formation in the second round.
Unlike the first round, the start of the second round is to seek stability and require defense. Yang Yang's defensive ability is relatively average. Although he can run, the head coach will definitely not waste his physical energy and energy on defense.
In Ajax's lineup, there are many players who are good at defense, but there are very few offensive players on the right.
There will be no big changes in the defense. Trabelsi defended Henry well in the first round, and Maxwell will continue to start. The two full-backs of Ajax are still very strong, and the central defender is still the combination of Heitinga and Escuder.
The team adopts a double defensive midfielder, which must be Garasek and De Jong. In the frontcourt, Ibrahimovic must be the starting center forward. He is also the player in the Ajax team who can most threaten Arsenal's defense.
But Yang Yang couldn't guess the two wingers on the left and right, and the attacking midfielder behind the center forward.
He can only foresee that he will come off the bench again.
Sure enough, after Ronald Koeman introduced the team's game strategy and countermeasures for emergencies during the game, he quickly announced the team's starting lineup.
Basically, it was exactly the same as what Yang Yang guessed, but on the left side, the coaching staff chose Wesley Sonck. The speed of the Belgian striker is quite threatening, especially when counterattacking.
As for the position on the right side, the coaching staff chose Scola. The only thing that surprised Yang Yang was the midfielder position. The coaching staff chose Sneijder.
This also means that the captain of the team, Van der Vaart, will be on the bench just like Yang Yang.
After listening to the starting list announced by the coaching staff, many people turned their heads to look at Van der Vaart, but found that the expression on the latter's face did not show any anger or dissatisfaction.
Did he already know?
Only this explanation is reasonable, otherwise how could he not be angry?
"Finally, I still want to tell everyone here that regardless of the outcome of the game tomorrow night, I am proud of you, and I always believe that you are a group of outstanding players, and each of you is quite outstanding."
"Our team's being able to come to this day and being able to appear in London proves your extraordinaryness, and I sincerely hope that in this final tonight, everyone here can do their best and contribute their own strength to themselves and this team."
"The outside world is looking down on us now, but I believe from the beginning to the end that we can come out of Highbury unscathed."
Ronald Koeman's mobilization and encouragement won warm applause from the locker room.
The fourth update broke out, ask for the first order and monthly pass!
(End of this chapter)
